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Tuthilltown Grist Mill got its start with an ambitious teenager in 1771

In 1788, Selah Tuthill established the three-story, timber-frame Tuthilltown Grist Mill on his property, which sat on the northwest bank of the Shawangunk Kill, a half-mile west of its juncture with the Wallkill River in the Town of Gardiner, Ulster County. Born in Orange County in 1771, Tuthill purchased 60 acres from Abraham Smedes and built the grist mill when he was still a teenager.

he Tuthilltown Grist Mill in the Town of Gardiner was established in 1788 by Selah Tuthill. Operating for more than two centuries, the site is now the first whiskey distillery to operate in Ulster County since the Prohibition era.(Photo: Anthony P. Musso)

The water-powered operation was originally fitted with an undershot waterwheel but was eventually replaced with a more efficient overshot wheel. Both options were later replaced with the mill wheel being powered by a vertical shaft turbine drive system.

When Tuthill opened the mill, it originally turned out stone ground flour and the operation continued to flourish at the site for more than two centuries.

Tuthill married Sara Schoonmaker is 1794 and the couple raised eight children there. The mill was the first of three to operate along the Shawangunk Kill.

Having the benefit of being located on Old Albany Post Road, the mill’s output and ability to serve an expanded marketplace generated a significant profit for Tuthill, and he soon became a prominent member of the community. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1804 and, after relocating to Marlborough, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Sadly, he died prior to ever having the chance to serve in the latter position.

“Tuthilltown was the commercial center of the Town of Gardiner when the town was founded in 1853,” said Gardiner Historian A.J. Schenkman. “Tuthill increased his landholding over time and it was eventually sold off to different families, who built houses around the mill.”

Tuthill’s son Daniel assumed oversight of the grist mill and the family continued to operate it for the next 50 years. Joseph Hasbrouck purchased the mill and began to expand it while also adding auxiliary structures on the grounds. An ambitious and enterprising businessman, he opened a mill store on the property, as well as a blacksmith shop.

Despite the hours needed to operate his ever-growing enterprise, Hasbrouck still found the time to teach at a school in the Town of Shawangunk and in February 1835 he was appointed the postmaster of Tuthilltown. Following his marriage to Eliza Rhea in 1821, the couple mirrored the mill’s founder and family by raising eight children at the site.

During the 1830s, Hasbrouck became involved in Democratic Party politics at both the local and state level. Prior to his death in 1871, Hasbrouck sold the mill and property to Ludwig Brand, who continued to operate it and the various businesses.

In 1941, George Smith acquired the property and became the last operator of the mill, overseeing its operation for another 50 years.

Under his ownership, during the 1980s the mill became very well known in Jewish communities as far away as New York City for using the mill to ground flour into matzo for Passover. During Smith’s ownership, the mill ground approximately 600,000 pounds of flour annually.

In 2001, the property went through another sales transaction when new owners purchased it and transformed a portion of the 18th century mill into a micro-distillery, named Tuthilltown Spirits. William Grant and Sons acquired that operation in 2017.

Billed as the first whiskey distillery to operate in Ulster County since the Prohibition era, the company features a visitor’s center that is open seven days a week, with tours offered on weekends.